The Focus Estate, another Ford delicacy that we don't get in the United States

Ford offers diesel-powered cars in Europe already making a transition for the US very easy if needed

Several automakers have been announcing new vehicles powered by diesel engines for the U.S. market. Chevrolet recently announced the Cruze Clean Turbo Diesel and Mazda will be bringing a diesel-powered version of its Mazda6 to the U.S. And we can’t forget that Volkswagen has been selling diesel vehicles in the U.S. for years with great success. Despite these major automakers announcing diesel-powered cars, Ford is still playing it safe.

Ford has long offered diesel engines in its heavy-duty F-Series pickups and will offer a diesel engine in its upcoming Transit commercial van (which will replace the E-Series), but is playing it safe when it comes to passenger cars.

"If we see diesels start to take off here in the U.S., we can react very quickly," said Ford's Mark Fields. While diesel-powered vehicles make up only 3% of retail passenger vehicle sales in the U.S., that figure was actually up by 25% in last year compared to 2011 according to Edmunds.

Ford already offers diesel-powered cars in Europe (where half of all vehicles sold come with a diesel engine) and other world markets as part of its global strategy. If Ford sees the demand in the United States increase significantly for diesel-powered cars, it would be easy to start placing those engines into vehicles destined for the United States. However, Americans would be facing a $3,000 to $4,000 premium compared to an equivalent gasoline-powered vehicle.

Ford has been slow to introduce diesel engines in its U.S. vehicles because it has put quite a bit of energy into promoting its EcoBoost engines instead. The turbocharged engines can be found in varying displacements in everything from the tiny Fiesta to the hulking F-150. However, the fuel efficiency ratings of those comparatively small, turbocharged engines have recently come under fire. Consumer Reports maintains that Ford's turbocharged engines offer little to no improvement over conventional engines in fuel efficiency or performance.

I wonder if Ford has a handle on something that's coming down the pike...

I have a lot of friends in London that all tell the same story about how the government jacked up the price of petrol to force everyone onto diesel. Once they were all converted, the government then just jacked up the price of diesel.

Not true. Petrol and Diesel are always produced together, the relative demand defines the price. When nobody wanted diesel it was cheap, now that people use it more, its no longer cheap. Just simple economy.

Not just simple economy, at least not in the US because it was mandated to lower the sulfur content in diesel which raised the price literally overnight. Add to that the fact that fuel tax is at least 50% higher on diesel than gasoline and it makes it even more expensive.